5. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=OMTizJemHO8 Anyone who knows anything about crappy voice acting will be fully aware of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, one of the most infamous cases in the history of video games. The game's level design was an absolute revelation for the series, and as a result, it's generally regarded as the best of the Castlevania games even in spite of its atrociously bad voice acting. To be fair, it was the first Castlevania game to have voice acting, so we can cut them a little slack, but not enough to forgive them for the travesty that takes place here; the opening exchange above is the most famous instance, with the actors hamming their way through a terrible dialogue exchange. It's difficult to know who is worse, Richter, with his Shatner-esque flatness, or Dracula, who emphasises the wrong words and basically doesn't seem to know what the Hell he is doing. Absolutely hateful.
Shaun Munro
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Frequently sleep-deprived film addict and video game obsessive who spends more time than is healthy in darkened London screening rooms. Follow his twitter on @ShaunMunroFilm or e-mail him at shaneo632 [at] gmail.com.
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